Memories

A lot of images and memories come to mind about the last 17 days, images I'll never ever forget. Here are my most vivid ones (what were yours?):

1) Joannie Rochette blowing a kiss to her Mom at the end of her skate. She redefined the word courage and determination.

2) Golden Goal - no other words are necessary. I don't even want to think what would have happened if it was the other team.

3) The first gold medal by Alexandre Bilodeau. We all knew there would be more but the first one is always the best one.

4) Patriotism in the streets. I guess the downtown residents can get some sleep now, or come back from their holidays visiting people elsewhere. I only wish this patriotism isn't a one-time thing. But the word bandwagon comes to mind.

5) My live Olympic experience watching both the Pairs and Women's Figure Skating Finals. It was touching to see how the fans cheered competitors from all nations. I did not hear one boo. This is what sports should be about, cheering for the effort.

What Else?

Flashback to a late September day in 1972. I'd only been in Canada for 3 months, but I'd already discovered the game of hockey. I was a cute 6-year-old boy who rushed home from school so fast because it was Game 8 of something called the Summit Series.

"Henderson scores!"

And now, almost 38 years later.... Canada is once again on top of the world. I was going to post about how disappointed I was that they didn't blow the game wide open with their firepower. If this is truly our game then why are we struggling to keep a lead?

But no, I will post about how a nation breathed together a sigh of relief, about how a young kid from Cole Harbor, Nova Scotia made us all proud to be Canadian.

To the American team, you played great. Ryan Miller, you were next to unbeatable. Congratulations.

To the Canadian team, cheers.

Flag Bearer

So who should carry the flag at the closing ceremonies? While I think that Joannie Rochette deserves the honor more than anyone else, I would understand if she declines due to the "festive" nature of the ceremonies. It won't be the hockey team because win or lose on Sunday they don't deserve it.

Courage

For the second time, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to experience an Olympic event live. Last week was the pairs figure skating final, and last night was the absolutely breathtaking women's figure skating final. It was truly an international affair, as we saw many flags from many countries all over Pacific Coliseum. Aside from Canada, there were many Korean and Japanese flags, and even a row of Finnish fans as their country was well represented.

The performance of the gold medal winner, Yu-Na Kim was amazing. She won by such a wide margin and it was fully deserved. The silver medalist Mao Asada had a powerful skate which maybe lacked a bit of the grace of Ms. Kim.

But by far my most memorable moment of these Olympics, and one of the most memorable of my life, was watching someone tune out the most saddest moments of her life to deliver a truly inspiring four-minute performance. Joannie Rochette taught me a lot about courage. No matter how sad or angry or down you are, sometimes you need to tune it out and turn it off and go on with your life. I don't know if I could have done what she did, but the whole country (and most of the world) was with her. And she had a loving mother watching from the heavens and smiling. When Joannie blew a kiss to the rafters at the end of her skate tonight, well, that was (I'm speechless here).

Congratulations to my Korean friends on a well-deserved medal. But to the Rochette family, merci.

Our Game Again

I've had a lot of fairly negative comments about the hockey team, because they only play hard when they need to. The "blame Brodeur" reporting was uncalled for, because the whole team let me down. You don't score 2 goals in regulation against THE SWISS and expect me to be impressed. They played badly against the US and all I heard was, well it's better they play another game. That's silly. But at least last night they played like they should. Why couldn't they do that in their last two games? Is it too much to ask that they play 100% like the women's team?

Bring on the Slovaks.

Owned

Who says we can't own the podium? Right now we are tied for first in gold medals. I'm not saying the other medals aren't important but we have 4 potential golds staring at us in curling and hockey. And there are still many other events too. US may win in overall medals but wouldn't it be something if we win the gold medal race? Onward!

Merci

What a night for skating, and strangely I'm still not talking about hockey. Yes, we won, as everybody "thought we would".

But tonight at the Pacific Coliseum I once again saw what being in the Olympics is all about. It's not about the medal, it's about the effort. If you put in your best effort and fall short than there is nothing more you can ask for. Two nights ago Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir put in their best effort and came up with the most beautiful four minutes I've seen in a long time. Tonight, Korea's Yu Na Kim gave an amazing skate to be in first place.

But she didn't have the best skate. Any Canadian, any skating fan, anybody with a Mom that they loved, well they all knew who had the best skate. To Joannie Rochette, I have no words to offer. It was breathtaking. You already won the gold medal for your effort in the face of adversity. O Canada.

O Canada

Tonight I was so proud to be a Canadian, and so proud to be a part of history. It was tonight that I saw what the Olympic spirit was all about. Yesterday night I lost a bit of my patriotic blood when I saw a disappointing performance from a bunch of overpaid skaters. Tonight I felt the blood rush back as I saw a beautiful skating performance from a beautiful 20-year-old lady and a dashing 22-year-old man. To Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, you have redefined grace and beauty and poise. They should put a picture of you two in the dictionary beside the word beauty. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Thought of the Day 2

We should invite the curling team to play some Squeeze Baccarat. Think about it.

Skeleton

What an inspirational performance by Jon Montgomery to add to the Canadian Gold Medal Party! I doubt I'll ever get a chance to do the skeleton (or is skeleton a verb on its own?) because it's just a big to freaky for me. Then again I drive in Richmond almost every day.... oh but I digress.

"O say can you see, by the dawn's early light...."

P.S. To Melissa Hollingsworth: You did not let your country down. You gave it your best shot and I am proud of you representing the greatest country in the world. You will be back in 2014 and I can't wait to see you on the podium.

Pairs Figure Skating Final

Ever since Jamie Sale and David Pelletier were robbed of a gold medal years ago, I'd gotten a bit weary of watching pairs figure skating because it's so much dependent on the judges. It is supposed to be a beautiful sport but there's a lot of favoritism. But tonight I enjoyed it once more.

I had the opportunity to hear some of my most favorite pieces of music:

Theme from Love Story
Theme from Romeo and Juliet
The Way We Were
Blue Danube

What more could you ask for? The Chinese pair that ended up second brought the house down with their inspirational performance. They were more or less perfect and fittingly won the free skate. But unfortunately they could only get silver. The gold medalists danced a safe but beautiful routine. While the Chinese have been known in the past to concentrate on the technical aspects as opposed to the "beauty", it looks like times have changed.

And to the two Canadian pairs, thank you for representing Canada. While you fell short of the podium, you have done our country proud.

The Olympic Experience

I am very fortunate to have a girlfriend who won the lottery for two tickets to the Pairs Figure Skating Final tonight (as well as the Women's Final next week) so I had the rare and possibly once-in-a-lifetime experience of seeing an Olympic event live. The event was great and I saw some amazing athletes.

What is so different between the Olympics and "regular sports" is how appreciative the fans are of ALL the performances. The crowd cheered for every team. They gave a standing ovation for a French team. I did not hear one boo. There may have been some surprising marks but all in all this is what fans should be. Cheer for greatness even if it's from somewhere else. Spend less time jeering for the other team.

GOLD!

Congratulations to Alexandre Bilodeau (and the rest of Canada) as we FINALLY won our first gold medal on Canadian soil. It was an amazing performance and such a beautiful story. As he said, the party is just getting started for Canada. Onward!

HCNY and HVD

Happy February 14 depending on what it means to you. The end of my most adventurous week at work is over and now it's time to savor some moments with someone special. The Olympics await us in two days.

Day 1

My condolences to the family and team (and country) of the Georgian athlete who died as a result of the horrible accident during practice. I hope this doesn't put a damper on the Games. The moment of silence was very honorable and touching.

Here We Go!

It's finally here. After beating South Korea by two votes to get the 2010 Olympics, it's finally here. To all the athletes and coaches and volunteers and workers, God speed. And to the Canadian Olympic hockey team, kick some ass.

Flame

Despite a lot of my reservations about the "commercial" aspect of the Olympics, I still enjoy the torch relay and of course the sporting aspect. It's been quite exciting hearing about the torch as it nears the Opening Ceremonies. Yesterday one of my heroes, Rick Hansen, brought the torch into Richmond. It only seemed like yesterday that he started his truly inspirational Man in Motion tour. I remembered standing among a throng of people at Oakridge Center when he finished it all. He was one of my "picks" to light the Olympic flame but it looks more and more like a certain #99 will get the honor.

Torch

Well, I guess for me the only good thing about the Olympics is trying to figure out who will light the torch at the very end. Right now I am pretty sure it will be one of these people, none of whom have been torch runners during the journey to the opening ceremonies.

1) Wayne Gretzky

Well, I always thought Lemieux was the better player, but if you think Canada, you think hockey. And when you think hockey, I guess Gretzky comes to mind. It would make a lot of sense.

2) Rick Hansen

I remember his "Man in Motion" tour from years past. He has been a great ambassador to athletes all over the world.

3) Betty Fox

Of course we know her better as the mother of the most inspirational runner of all time, one Terry Fox.

4) Michael J. Fox

He's not an athlete, but he's Canadian.

Hockey

Hockey is obviously a part of Canada. One can argue that it IS Canada. There are diehard fans all over the country. I have cheered for my Habs for, wow, 39 years now. Habs fans are everywhere. I know Maureen and Brenna who worship the Flames. There are frustrated Leaf fans who never give up. Oiler fans, Senator fans, and even the Canuck fans who seem to enjoy their reputation of being whiners (that's for another post). But in about a month, all the CANADIAN fans will get together and cheer for Team Canada. I have to admit while I don't have a lot of positive things to say about the Olympics themselves, I'm getting hyped up about hockey. I still recall coming to Canada in 1972 and watching perhaps one of the greatest hockey series ever. Who can forget Paul Henderson scoring THE GOAL? It only seemed like yesterday.

GO CANADA GO!

Olympics Bleh

When Vancouver/Whistler was awarded the 2010 Olympics I was of the opposing view, and that hasn't changed. In fact, I hate what it's done to the city. First a lot of businesses on Cambie Street had to close down due to all the construction of the almighty Canada Line. We hear of the unbelievable underbudgeting of security and other costs. It's quite obvious the traffic "plan" is a farce; things are bad enough as it is. And now we hear that Hastings Racecourse will be closed down for a month because of security concerns. Thank you VANOC for screwing around with the lives of 200 workers who will receive no compensation. I can't wait to see all the extra taxes we'll have to pay. How long did it take to pay off the Olympic Stadium in Montreal again?